Police in Raleigh, North Carolina, are releasing more information about the brutal home invasion murder of beloved teacher Zoe Welsh, who was on the phone with 911 as she was being killed.
“He hit me with a brick” were among Welsh’s last words, according to investigators, who have released transcripts from the January 3 call Welsh made for help after Ryan Camacho, 36, allegedly forced his way into her home and started to attack her.
“A man just broke in through the window,” Welsh relayed to 911. “He is a homeless man. I have seen him in the park at Fred Fletcher” in Raleigh.
She told the 911 operator he used a brick to smash the window and had entered her kitchen, where he opened the refrigerator.
“He is in the house right now,” Welsh, whose age was not provided, said over the phone. “He hit me with a brick. He hit me with a brick. I am on the floor in my bedroom.”
Those were the teacher’s final words, according to police. The dispatcher repeatedly asked Welsh if she was still on the line but got no response.
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Welsh, who was a much-loved teacher at Ravenscroft School, called 911 the morning of January 3 just after 6:30 a.m.
Camacho is now charged with her murder, Us Weekly previously reported.
Camacho has not entered a plea to the charge and is due in court January 26.
WRAL reports Camacho was arrested six times within the past four years, according to public documents.
In most cases, the charges would be dropped against Camacho.
In 2016, Camacho pleaded guilty to a property damage charge after throwing a rock and breaking a man’s car window. He said the man tried to enter his car.
He has also been charged with stalking, according to WRAL. The judge dismissed the stalking charge and Camacho spent two and a half months in jail with post-release mental health treatment. Camacho was arrested four times in 2017 and charged with seven non-violent misdemeanor crimes, the station discovered.
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In 2019, Camacho allegedly fired four bullets into a Raleigh woman’s home, resulting in eight felony charges. Six of those charges were dropped through a plea deal, and he was sentenced to a minimum of 2 years in prison with nine months of post release supervision, followed by an additional five years of probation.
He allegedly violated his post-release supervision and was sent back to prison. In total, he served five and a half years in prison for the case.
The Department of Adult Corrections said they couldn’t answer WRAL’s inquiries into what Camacho’s mandated post-release care looked like, or what the specific violations were, citing privacy laws.
Marcia Morey, a current legislator and former judge, is not directly involved in Camacho’s case, but told the station the legal system just lacks the resources and capacity to adequately support individuals with mental health or substance abuse issues.
“The problem is, we don’t have the staffing needed. We don’t have the capacity with all the people that do get these orders and conditions of probation, including substance abuse,” Morey told WRAL News.
